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If you’re a say anything fan, you’re well aware that this is Max Bemis’ cracking first major label debut (J of Sony subsidiary re-released from doghouse records). You’ll also be well aware that this stellar album has a vast array of Say Anything hits from “Alive with the Glory of Love” to live staple “Spidersong” and part rap part social commentary “Admit it!!!“.

Although the album had it’s fair share of crazy beginnings (see: Rock Opera, breakdowns and re-recordings), the album was first released on Doghouse records before being picked up by J a subsidiary of Sony entertainment and rereleased in 2006, 2 years after it’s first release on Doghouse. The reissue was titled “…Was a Real Boy“, and featured scrapped songs and single “Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too” which has a really weird phone orientated video. Luckily for us, Was a Real Boy ended up on the vinyl release too, as well as the great track “Walk Through Hell” which is a re-recorded track from Menorah/Majora.

The actual vinyl

It’s your pretty standard gate fold release with paper vinyl sleeves. From recollection there was no download card and no lyric sheet either. Only a small amount of liner notes on the inner gate fold as seen in the pics. The artwork does look really cool in this format however as it’s all drawn by Peter Bemis. There has been 4 pressings thus far and are as follows ripped from the wiki. I have the highlighted Blue banquet release.

Have you ever watched a movie and felt your insides scream in glorifying unison? Have you watched a movie and thought to yourself, “who sacrificed themselves to satan to make this movie so good?”? OR have you ever watched, or wanted to watch a movie? If you answered yes to any of those – then Drive is the movie for you. Furthermore – the soundtrack to Drive should be the soundtrack to your life. Throw in some headphones, put the album on repeat and go about life – knowing that your small existence has been exponentially heightened by the sound-scape pathing the track in front and under you.

The soundtrack has 80’s synth pop, atmospheric tunes, more 80’s synth pop and more synth pop. All of which YOU NEED TO SURVIVE. Listen to A real hero after seeing the movie – that song alone evokes so many emotions. Just an incredible song.

With all seriousness Drive is an amazing albeit at times violent movie, with one mindblowing soundtrack. A soundtrack I’m so lucky enough to hold in picture disc form in my hands.

The actual vinyl

I think I’ve managed to stop rambling about how much I love all things Drive so let’s get into it.

Four different versions:

White

Pink

180 gram Black

Picture Disc

I’d seen many pink versions on ebay before finally finding the picture disc version I love so dearly. The pink however does look really nice and matches really well colour wise.

It comes in a really nice glossy gatefold sleeve which is chock full of screen caps and images from the film. The vinyl themselves come in plain paper sleeves. But the real glory is all in the vinyl and the glorious sound which comes from it.

Tracklist

Tracks are by Cliff Martinez from track 6 onwards.

A

1 – Nightcall – Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx

2 – Under You Spell – Desire

3 – A Real Hero – College Feat. Electronic Youth

4 – Oh My Love – Riz Ortolani feat. Katyna Ranieri

B

1 – Tick Of The Clock – The Chromatics

2 – Rubber Head

3 – I Drive

4 – He Had A Good Time

5 – They Broke His Pelvis

6 – Kick Your Teeth

C

1 – Where’s The Deluxe Version

2 – See You In Four

3 – After the Chase

4 – Hammer

D

1 – Wrong Floor

2 – Skull Crushing

3 – My Name On A Car

4 – On The Beach

5 – Bride Of Deluxe

$$ – $$$

Picture disc you’d be looking at about $70 + on ebay

Otherwise head to the Invada records store (linked) and you can pick up the other variants for about 23 pounds + shipping. On further inspection looks like the white is no longer up either. Ebay is sometimes your friend though.

After hearing the Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me kicker “~” I was rather hooked on Touche Amore. So hearing about this little live 7″ which includes the briskly titled track “~” you can say I was a little bit excited. I dashed down to Kill The Music in Brisbane to pick it up, and after giving it a 45bpm spin my suspicions were confirmed. It is kickass. The energy this band gives during a live show is incredible, and you can feel it encapsulated on this bit of wax. If you’re a fan of either La Dispute of Title Fight then you will already know about this band. But if for some reason you don’t – CHECK. IT. OUT.

The actual vinyl

Pretty standard plastic sleeve followed by an oddly put together outer cardboard shell for the vinyl. The edges are folded in and when they’re unfolded they give you a cool poster thing. Hard to explain so as usual – check out the pictures. The vinyl I have is the white variant which is apparently one of 2300. I ripped the pressing info off discogs.com which I will casually list below.

I have to say this was a random purchase. I’d heard of The Story So Far before I bought it, but I hadn’t

really had a listen to them. I had a spare $20 and saw how perrrrdy this vinyl was. I’m actually really really glad I got it. It’s full of catchy riffs, fun punk/rock chorus’ and just a good 32 or so minutes to rock out to.

This being their first album ( I believe), is quite a display of what could come from the band in the future.

The actual vinyl

So the vinyl comes in a gatefold which in my opinion looks pretty freaking awesome. The art on it is great. If you open it up you’ll see the thank you notes in the center with 2 “tablet” things that have the lyrics on them. The actual vinyl comes in a square plain white sleeve. The actual vinyl itself looks freaking great. There are quite a few different pressings and colours for this one. I personally have what I think is the first of the second pressing. It’s clear with green splatter.

The first pressing should be

200 on cream with red and blue splatter
300 on translucent teal
500 on black

And from what I know thus far the second pressing consists of

Clear with green splatter

Solid Red

Tracklist

A

1 – States and Minds

2 – Roam

3 – Quicksand

4 – Swords And Pens

5 – High Regard

B

1 – Daughters

2 – Mt Diablo

3 – Four Years

4 – Rally Cap

5 – Placeholder

6 – Closure

$

As with pretty much anything else – it just depends on which variant you want.

Ebay usually comes up empty – but may be your only option if you’re after an older variant.

After pumping out short fast and loud tunes over an expanse of years, their debut LP (…to the beat of a dead horse) and a slew of split vinyl they released Parting the Sea an explosive album which just teeters over 20 short but loud minutes. The songs meld together quite well and really blast through a few different realms including an amazing piano piece named Condolences. If you’re into Title Fight or La Dispute, they’re frequent tour buddies of them and all come under the banner of incredible lyric indie “holyfuckingshitthisisamazing”.

The actual vinyl

It comes in a pretty standard insert case. I have the Second pressing which is solid red. I’ll put all the different pressings just below this paragraph. As you can see in the photos the insert has a photo, credits and lyrics. The following pressing info is from discogs.com

200 copies pressed. Limited Australian Tour Edition. Only made available at shows during their tour with Title Fight.

Tracklist

A

1 – ~

2 – Pathfinder

3 – The Great Repetition

4 – Art Official

5 – Uppers/Downers

6 – Crutch

B

1 – Method Act

2 – Face Ghost

3 – Sesame

4 – Wants/Needs

5 – Condolences

6 – Home Away From Here

7 – Amends

$$

This is really dependent on which pressing you’re after. If you don’t mind all too much then just drop down to your local record store and chances are they probably have the 2nd pressing or could get it in. If you’re after either the limited edition/aussie edition or some of the more limited versions you may have to dish out about $40+ depending. Just keep on ebay. Here is a link to the Touche Amore store if you’d like to buy direct!

As stated in the above quote – this post rock quintet is full of different instruments. It is full of vast atmospheric atmospheres and is just about the exact quantity of everything to make a stellar indie post-rock release. If you’re wondering what post-rock is, then listen to sigur ros. Although in this release there is no made up language and a very much big lack of vocals. But there doesn’t need to be vocals when the music can just as easily do the talking. The album kicks in with a bit of an introduction then flows and ebbs along for its duration. It’s an incredible listen and is even cooler on vinyl (while supporting an incredible company ‘futurerecordings’).

The actual vinyl

This release is as above – “LP is 192 gram white colored vinyl. Hand Stamped and numbered printed with soy ink on 100% recycled gatefold covers. Limited to 100 copies”. Also included is a small card with thank yous and a design on the back. For the sake of names I have NOT included a photo of that side – however I did include a photo of the other side.

This is just an awesome release if post-rock is your sort of thing. Future Recordings are full of incredible acts, most of which all go quite nicely together meaning that if you like this – you’ll also like most of their other artists and releases. So definitely check that out.

Enter Shikari have been labeled under “post-hardcore, electronicore and metalcore” in the past. Not only do I have no idea what the last two mean, but I also think that they break through defining lines in general. After slightly narrowing their sound in their sophomore album Common Dreads, they have once again busted through mere “genre” and really transcended into a mixed sound of their own. I’ve found that through my first listen I was quite confused and didn’t quite “get it”. However the more I listened to it, the more I found just how much I loved each crazy transition. So if you’re not quite feeling the album the first few spins, then keep going and try a few more times. The amazing video for arguing with thermometers seen HERE may help you in your quest.

The Actual Vinyl

This single blue 12″ vinyl comes housed in a rather cool looking lyric sleeve with blue light inverted triangle on the opposite side of the sleeve. The sleeve and vinyl themselves go inside the packaging which has alternate album artwork specifically for vinyl. The vinyl itself is a really cool blue colour and you’ll see from the below photos what they exactly look like.

Tracklist

A

1 – System…

2 – … Meltdown

3 – Sssnakepit

4 – Search Party

5 – Arguing With Thermometers

6 – Stalemate

B

1 – Ghandi Mate, Ghandi.

2 – Warm Smiles Do Not Make You Welcome Here

3 – Pack Of Thieves

4 – Hello Tyrannosaurus, Meet Tyrannicide

5 – Constellations

$$

Right now it’s easily available for about $27-$40. If you’re in australia head to JBHIFI online and you can pick it up for $34 including postage. Otherwise just head to the enter shikari website or your local record store.